Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct shared a lot of information many gamers were aware of: Mario Tennis Aces, Splatoon 2 content, and so on. However, host Yoshiaki Koizumi held onto the best at the end of the roughly half-hour presentation: Super Smash Bros. is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2018.

The clip picks up after the Splatoon 2 announcements, where two inklings square off in a messy paint battle, only for the screen to go dark. The inkling girl stops and looks up to see the Super Smash Bros. circular logo reflected in her eye as reflections of Mario and Link briefly appear.

Preceding the Super Smash Bros. clip, Nintendo unveiled some of their 2018 line-up for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS consoles. Titles include:

Additional cars to increase capacity on both SkyTrain lines and the Canada Line is being accelerated according to an announcement made by TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond on Friday, February 23rd.

The first 28 cars destined for the Expo and Millennium Lines will arrive in early 2019, followed by another 28 cars toward the end of 2019. A further 24 cars are on order for the Canada Line which are expected before the end of 2020.

The original order of the cars was made in 2016 under Phase 1 of the region’s 10 year vision for transit which includes a 20% increase for rail service.

Statistics provided by TransLink show that ridership is up by 5.7 percent, reaching 407 million boardings in 2017.

With D23 Expo taking place in Japan, the talk has focused around Kingdom Hearts III and if a new trailer for the title would drop. Square Enix and Disney surprised everyone with not one, but two teasers for Kingdom Hearts III.

The first video unveils a new world from Monsters, Inc., where Sora, Donald and Goofy, team up with Sully and Mike to scare children as they settle in for bed. Our protagonists even transform into these creatures, keeping inline with the rest of this denizens from this Disney comedy. There’s also additional scenes from the Toy Story and Tangled worlds, where Sora gets to showoff some of his new moves. Interestingly enough, some familiar faces from Organization XIII make a return.

Utada Hikaru is back for a new song, titled Oath. She also performed the theme songs for the previous games in the series with Simple and Clean in Kingdom Hearts and Sanctuary in Kingdom Hearts II. Visuals include scenes with Riku, King Mickey, Xemnas and old villains Maleficent and Pete.

Kingdom Hearts III is expected sometime in 2018 for both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Hideaki Sorachi’s action-comedy manga series Gintama comes to life in a full-length feature film titled after the manga series of the same name from director Yuichi Fukuda. The film will be shown in Canada at select Cineplex locations in Japanese with English subtitles.

An alien group has overrun Japan, driving many samurai into hiding and giving up their trade. One such samurai, Gintoki Sakata, becomes a handyman, filling in wherever he’s needed to work. Another swordsman approaches Gintoki with a job, to seek out and secure the cursed sword Benizakura. If Benizakura falls into the wrong hands, the consequences for humanity become dire.

The cast of Gintama includes:

Shun Oguri as Gintoki Sakata

Masaki Suda as Shinpachi Shimura

Kanna Hashimoto as Kagura

Masaki Okada as Kotaro Katsura

Masami Nagasawa as Tae Shimura

Murotsuyoshi as Gengai Hiraga

Kankuro Nakamura as Isao Kondo

Yuya Yagira as Toshiro Hijikata

Ryo Yoshizawa as Sogo Okita

Ken Yasuda as Testuya Murata

Akari Hayami as Tetsuko Murata

Hirofumi Arai as Nizo Okada

Jiro Sato as Henpeita Takechi

Nanao as Matako Kijima

Tsuyoshi Domoto as Shinsuke Takasugi

Gintama was originally released in Japanese theatres on July 14th, 2017.

Neku makes a return on the Nintendo Switch in The World Ends with You: Final Remix.

Nintendo kicked off 2018 with a brief Nintendo Direct video this morning announcing a bunch of upcoming titles for the Switch console.

After releasing a decade earlier on the Nintendo DS, The World Ends with You: Final Remix returns with improved graphics and an epilogue building on the existing storyline. Players can use the Joy Con controllers or the touch screen to interact with the game. This Square-Enix adventure is expected sometime this year.

The Pokémon x Tekken cross-over fighting game Pokkén Tournament DX gets two DLC packs this year. “Wave 1” includes Aegislash with Mimikyu and Mega Rayquaza as support Pokémon, while “Wave 2” includes Blastoise with Celebi and Mew for support. “Wave 1” is available January 31st, 2018, followed by “Wave 2” on March 23rd, 2018.

Kirby Star Allies brings everyone’s favourite pink ball onto the Switch with new abilities, including being an artist and using spiderwebs to capture enemies. Multiplayer functionality allows up to four friends to partake in the fun. Kirby Star Allies goes on sale March 16th, 2018.

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is getting the Switch treatment. In addition to the existing 29 playable characters from the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS versions, their levels and downloadable content, Link and Zelda can don attire from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Two players can play together sharing the Joy Con controllers in mobile mode. This title is scheduled for Spring 2018.

The ball is in your court with Mario Tennis Aces. Enhanced gameplay makes guessing an opponents next move far more formidable. A new story mode brings more ways to play, and challenging boss battles. This title is scheduled for Spring 2018.

It’s the epic story of survival in Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana. Adol barely makes it off of a sinking ship with his life and ends up on a deserted island. Enlisting the help of other survivors to build a camp and defend themselves from the vicious inhabitants of the island thru fast-paced battles. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is expected in summer 2018.

New downloadable content for Super Mario Odyssey makes for balloon-popping fun! Upon completing the main story, a new mode called Balloon World appears with two modes: Hide It and Find It. In Hide It, players must hide balloons in various worlds for others to find. In Find It, the player must find balloons secreted away by others. This update becomes available in February 2018.

SNK HEROINES ~Tag Team Frenzy~ brings SNK’s famous idols together in a tag-team fighting game for the Nintendo Switch. Players can utilize special attacks and items to give themselves the advantage, making victory all the sweeter. This title is expected in summer 2018.

It’s payday! Pull of some expert pilferage with your friends locally or a world away with PAYDAY 2. Updated to take advantage of the Switch’s touchscreen and HD Rumble makes holdups that more sweeter. A new character exclusive to the Switch version introduces Joy, a Japanese hacker into the fray. PAYDAY 2 goes on sale February 27th, 2018.

Explore a forest and interact with its colourful flora and fauna in Fe. Advance through the forest by singing with the animals and plants to unlock its secrets; these songs come alive with feedback from the HD Rumble in the Joy Con controllers. Fe launches on February 16th, 2018.

In Celeste, Madeline must climb a mountain, using any terrain available, granted she has the stamina for it. Using her mid-air dash, Celeste can overcome obstacles in this dangerous environment. Adjust the difficulty by playing in Assist Mode, or unlock the B-side chapters for arduous adventures. Celeste launches on January 25th, 2018.

The live-action film of the popular horror manga Tokyo Ghoul is coming to Cineplex theatres across Canada. Sui Ishida’s work comes to life in this 2 hour showing named after the manga and anime series in Japanese with English subtitles on October 16th, 2017.

The world has become a mixture of humans and ghouls who eat flesh. University student Ken Kaneki is forced to undergo surgery with what’s supposedly a routine organ transplant. While the operation is successful, Kaneki develops a taste for human flesh; becoming something he hated. Now as a half-human half-ghoul, he must hide his fearful tendencies from the rest of the public and authorities, finding refuge in an unlikely place — with other ghouls. Can Keneki save himself and his newfound acquaintances?

Directed by Kentarō Hagiwara, the cast includes:

Masataka Kubota as Ken Kaneki

Fumika Shimizu as Toka Kirishima

Yu Aoi as Rize Kamishiro

Nobuyuki Suzuki as Kotaro Amon

Yo Oizumi as Kureo Mado

Shunya Shiraishi as Nishiki Nishio

Hiyori Sakurada as Hinami Fueguchi

Shoko Aida as Ryoko Fueguchi

Shuntaro Yanagi as Renji Yomo

Bandon Minosuke II as Uta

Visit the Cineplex web site for a list of showtimes, participating locations and to purchase tickets.

If you’ve ever wondered what Canada would like if it were made into an anime, this would be it. The production staff behind the animated film Your Name created a 30 second short of winter in Canada for a promotional tourism campaign in Japan (in Japanese).

The video includes scenes in the Rocky Mountains at Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, two locations in Vancouver: Granville Island Public Market and the Drop sculpture at the Vancouver Convention Centre, Niagara Falls, along with another two stops in Toronto at Nathan Phillips Square and Toronto Harbour. If you look closely, you can see the signs for JJ Bean and Duso’s Italia in the Granville Island scene; a testament to the artistic detail that went into this video.

The contest is only open to Japanese citizens and closes Thursday, November 30th, 2017.

In Canada and the US, we’re all accustomed to taking the bus with these shiny new vehicles, accessible ramps, air conditioning and displays showing the next stop. In Matamoros, Tamaulipas, taking the bus is a whole new adventure and for the uninitiated, an eye-opening experience.

The vehicles are former school buses from the United States; they’ve been repainted from their traditional yellow and sometimes fancifully decorated with images of patron saints or soccer teams. The sides of the bus advertise their route, namely large shopping centres like Chedraui, Soriana or HEB. Maintenance is an afterthought; the tires are balding, some of them have rust, and even holes in the floors. However, you won’t find trash lying around or anyone smoking. The only form of air conditioning are the windows; most of them open and when the driver brings the bus up to speed, it’s refreshing. Gone are the rows of seats; they’ve been rotated to the side so they face the centre and railings along the ceiling help keep balance once the driver is under way.

Fares are reasonable at $9 MXN ($0.62 CAD/$0.50 USD); the drivers keeps their change in a little wooden box up front with the coins all neatly stacked. Even with the passengers being jostled by the uneven streets, the coins don’t topple over. Don’t expect to tap in with a pre-paid card or anything of the sort; it’s all cash based.

Sometimes there’s live entertainment on board. A musician will board with their guitar and amp and play for a portion of the ride, asking for donations before hopping off.

Most importantly, despite their worn down appearances, these buses are critical to Matamoros as everyone rides them. Students going to school, mothers out for their daily shopping, people going to work, and yes, tourists like myself.

With the bus, you get to see much of the city and it’s an easy way to get around. Matamoros retains a lot of its historic colonial-style architecture with brightly coloured homes, many surrounded by vibrant trees and greenery. There are some rough-looking parts, though looks can be deceiving. There’s a lot of charm and the bus helps you reach it in Matamoros.

Nintendo uploaded a live-action video promoting the new legendary heroes for their mobile device game, Fire Emblem Heroes. In the nearly three-minute long trailer the four legends, Ike (Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance), Lucina (Fire Emblem Awakening), Roy (Fire Emblem: The Blinding Blade) and Lyn (Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade), showcase their strength over various enemies, including a fearsome armoured swordsman.

While Ike, Lucina, Roy and Lyn already appear in the game, these four are special heroes and carry different weapons. Normally, Roy, as an example, is an infantry unit, but his special version changes him to a cavalry unit as he is mounted on a horse. He also wields the sword Blazing Durandal instead of the Binding Blade.

The four special heroes are available for summoning; though an in-game promotion lets you select one of these five-star heroes free; additional summons require orbs.

Site Related

Popular Articles

Canadian Naruto fans will be able catch Boruto: Naruto the Movie on the big screen. According to Cineplex’s web site, there will be limited showings at select theatres across the country… Read the rest of this article…

Most anime series have loads of merchandise featuring images of the main characters or logos and replicas of items used in those series. There’s a lot of apparel from some… Read the rest of this article…